At least a dozen tornadoes were reported, and three had been confirmed by the National Weather Service. No serious injuries were reported.

Two twisters were also reported in Ohio as storms knocked down trees and power lines Monday night.

"I imagine that when we get out tomorrow and look at the damage we'll have a lot of confirmed tornadoes," said Tom Hultquist, with the weather service's Grand Rapids, Mich., office.

The rooftop of the convienence store/service station garage lies in a parking lot behind the business in this aerial view Monday, May 21, 2001, after a tornado moved through touched down in Livingston County.

Associated Press Photo

In Mount Pleasant, about 45 miles north of Lansing, Lori Rathje said a storm uprooted trees in her yard. When high winds hit, she hid under a desk in her basement and peered out one of the basement's small windows.

"I could just see things flying past," she told the Morning Sun.

Mount Pleasant elementary schools sheltered children during the storm, releasing them only after tornado warnings were lifted at 5:45 p.m.

Dale McGriff said he watched a tornado while standing in his garage in South Lyon Township, 30 miles west of Detroit.

Two boys run through a field adjacent to the Ericks family home in Parchment, Mich., Monday, May 21, 2001, after it was destroyed by an unconfirmed tornado. The field was littered with remnants of the house including the majority of the roof.

Associated Press Photo

"I looked up and just seen the funnel come out of the sky. ... It went back up and came down," McGriff told television station WJBK. "There was no warning."

Monday evening, more than 9,000 customers were without electricity in the state, utility officials said.

In Ohio, possible tornadoes were reported in Canton, where several trucks were blown over and homes damaged, and in Litchfield Township in the northeastern part of the state.

In southeastern Ohio, roofs were torn off and windows blown out as a strong storm lashed Meigs County. Also in the region, rising waters punched a 10-to-12-foot hole in a dam at the Waterloo Coal Corp. in Oak Hill, closing a highway under up to 5 feet of water, authorities said.

In Columbus, firefighters rescued three children from a flooded storm drainage ditch, the fire department said. The children were unhurt.